The Washington Post, citing informed sources, said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened a federal criminal investigation into the bridge collapse in Maryland.
The investigation will focus at least in part on the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali and whether the crew left the port in Baltimore knowing there was a serious problem with the ship’s systems, the sources said. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, speaking before Congress, the head of the US National Transportation Safety Board said they had questioned key personnel of the Dali train as part of the investigation into the fatal accident.
Work is underway to clean up the debris from the bridge collapse and restore traffic through Maryland's river shipping lanes.
On March 26, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland collapsed when the container ship Dali suddenly stalled and crashed into the bridge pier. The incident killed six people. The waterway blocked by the collapsed bridge was the first point of entry into the Port of Baltimore, the ninth busiest port in the United States in terms of trade volume. The bridge collapse caused an estimated $15 million in damage per day.